Friday, November 23, 2018

Tuneful Alternatives to Mindless Consumerism. Nov 23 2018 edition.

.
.
Perhaps you, like us, are more than mildly disgusted by the fanaticism of billions of dollars of mindless consumerism that is bestowed with millions of dollars of behavior-altering advertising masquerading as joyful hoopla.

It's rampantly parading under the banners of BLACK FRIDAY and CYBER MONDAY.

Well. We have concluded that it is not necessary to clutter our lives with obsessively acquired trendy crap we don't need in an effort to qualify as cool.

MOREOVER... many thousands of our fellow humans are presently in need of actual necessities. So we are committing anything we would have spent on Christmas presents or self-indulgent kitschy falderal, and giving that money to reputable charities in the names of those who might have expected holiday gifts from us.

Hint, hint.

INDIVIDUALLY, any of us can make some difference to fire victims in California, hurricane and flood victims in Florida, Puerto Rico, and along the Gulf Coast, and those have become refugees from those places and are still in need wherever they are now. And let us add, that COLLECTIVELY, if we ALL pitch-in, the good we can do is amplified many times over.

So don't look for us in the scrum of the retail melee.

Today (Friday) we'll take a break at the small town festival up in the San Gabriel mountain community of Wrightwood, to enjoy the music, ambience, and community theatre production.

Tomorrow (Saturday) we'll be at a special event in one of our wonderful California State Parks.

And both places, we'll donate to fire relief funds.

If we were going to be around town Saturday, we would patronize "SMALL BUSINESS SATURDAY" and share what passes for wealth with the mom-and-pop retailers who struggle every day in the face of the corporate mega-giants.

And we might just catch some live music on Sunday.

"CYBER MONDAY" will probably reinforce a trend already firmly in place. One of every two dollars spent on retail purchases online goes to Amazon. Jeff Bezos has reinvented buying damn near anything, to the benefit of no one except Jeff Bezos. The community-building, benign capitalism of mom-and-pop retail storefronts hasn't just vanished behind the behemoths of corporate mega-capitalism. Bezos' empire can decide who gets what kind of deal from the almighty Amazon, or exclude, altogether, anything from "THE" omnipotent retailing arena. Hence, we don't play there.

TUESDAY, is "GIVING TUESDAY," when we're all supposed to give to charity whatever we have left after spending ourselves into oblivion on Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Like we said, we're making certain we'll be able to support "GIVING TUESDAY,"by not engaging in the other ones.

Yeah, well, that's just us. We won't be thinking of you this weekend or Monday, if you are subjecting yourself to the capitalist chaos. But we do welcome you to join the movement to pursue fulfilling alternatives that don't consume all your cash on junk that'll take up space in the landfill within a year or two. Especially when you can buy yourself some fond memories, some memorable melodies, and the irreplaceable knowledge that you have helped someone and made a difference in the life of somebody out there who has lost much.
___________________

MUSIC & ARTS EVENTS, this Weekend, through the coming week...
___________________

Fri-Sun, Nov 23-25:
8 pm - "STANLEY KUBRIC'S SOUND ODYSSEY" is this weekend's "CASUAL FRIDAYS WITH THE L.A. PHIL" and is also the concert on Sat night and Sun afternoon at Walt Disney Concert Hall, 111 S Grand Av, Los Angeles, CA 90012
* THIS EPITOMIZES THE GUIDE'S DEFINITION OF "ACCESSIBLE CLASSICAL MUSIC."
* 8 pm Fri & Sat, 2 pm Sunday.
* Fri, come early beginning at 6:30 pm to enjoy complimentary drinks, spectacular views and more, then head over to the "Upbeat Live" pre-concert talk in BP Hall (select nights only).
* "Upbeat Live" is FREE to ticket holders, one hour before the concert. It's an informative and engaging way to learn about the music before the concert. Renowed musicologists take you through music theory, guided listening and the program's historical and cultural context. Plus, interviews with guests and members of the LA Phil, and you can participate in Q & A.
* Can't attend, or running late? Dial 605-475-4333 and enter access code 184648 to listen on your way to the Hall. (No charge except what your phone plan charges you; area code 605 is South Dakota)
* Post-concert after-party included with your ticket: hang out with orchestra members.
* Enjoy complimentary tastings of the "LA Phil 100 Brut IPA," a special beer brewed by Los Angeles Ale Works to celebrate the LA Phil’s Centennial.
* Listen FREE to past "Upbeat Live" programs; scroll down: https://www.laphil.com/concerts-and-events/tickets-and-packages/upbeat-live/
* Tix start at $20, at https://www.laphil.com/casualfridays/
___________

Fri, Nov 30:
7:30 pm - BLACK MARKET TRUST plays the first of multiple shows in different OC venues for the "Lord Of The Strings" Concert Series, this one at Dana Point Community House, 24642 San Juan St, Dana Point, CA 92629.
* Tix for all shows in the series are available at: 949-244-6656
___

<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>
.
♪ The ACOUSTIC AMERICANA MUSIC GUIDE endeavors to bring you NEWS – and views of interest to artists everywhere – more specifically to musicians and the creative community and music makers and fans of acoustic and Folk-Americana music. That includes both traditional and innovative forms. From the deepest roots to today’s acoustic renaissance, that’s our beat. We provide a wealth of resources, including a HUGE catalog of acoustic-friendly venues (now undergoing a major update), and inside info on FESTIVALS and select performances in Southern California in venues from the monumentally large to the intimately small and cozy. We cover workshops, conferences, and other events for artists and folks in the music industry, and all kinds o’ things in the world of acoustic and Americana and accessible classical music. From washtub bass to musical spoons to oboe to viola to banjo to squeezebox, from Djangostyle to new-fangled-old-time string band music, from sweet Cajun fiddle to bluegrass and pre-bluegrass Appalachian mountain music to all the swamp water roots of the blues and the bright lights of where the music is headed now.
.
The Acoustic Americana Music Guide. Thanks for sittin' a spell. The cyber porch'll be here anytime you come back from the road.
.
<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>

About the Picture, and more...

ABOUT THE GUIDE'S EDITOR: Longtime journalist, with awards for print, publishing, broadcasting, more, including the Music Legend Award, presented to just one honoree each year at the Topanga Banjo Fiddle Contest & Folk Festival. Creator and host of radio's award-winning "Tied to the Tracks" that introduced an Acoustic Americana / acoustic renaissance format to Los Angeles radio, with live in-studio performance-interviews with wonderful musicians; over 300 performing guests including GRAMMY and Juno winners and nominees.